Riot Data Center Chief Departs Less Than a Year After Bitcoin Miner’s AI Push

Riot’s push into AI and HPC infrastructure appears to have hit a leadership shakeup, with Chief Data Center Officer Jonathan Gibbs departing less than a year after joining the bitcoin miner.

A Form-4 filing on Tuesday shows that Gibbs forfeited 1.1 million restricted shares on April 12, coinciding with his exit from Riot. The disclosure indicated that the shares were cancelled under the terms of his equity compensation agreements, suggesting the bulk of Gibbs’ equity package had not yet vested.

Gibbs, 38, was appointed in June 2025 as Riot’s first Chief Data Center Officer, a newly created role aimed at spearheading the firm’s expansion beyond Bitcoin mining into hyperscale data center and AI hosting services. At the time, Riot said he would lead the development of a dedicated data center platform targeting enterprise and cloud clients.

His hiring came as Riot sought to reposition parts of its infrastructure portfolio, including reserving up to 600 megawatts of capacity at its Corsicana site in Texas for potential HPC applications rather than Bitcoin mining.

Before joining Riot, Gibbs held senior roles at Prime Data Centers and construction firm ARCO/Murray, overseeing more than one gigawatt of data center development globally and managing projects with a combined capital value exceeding $17 billion, according to Riot’s 2025 annual report.

The company did not disclose a reason for his departure, and the filing characterizes the separation as mutual.

The exit comes at a time when publicly listed bitcoin miners, including Riot, have been diversifying into AI and data center colocation businesses to offset pressure from declining mining economics. Industry profitability has been squeezed by persistently low hashprice levels, which have hovered in the low-$30 PH/s range in recent months.

Riot itself has been leaning more heavily on its Bitcoin holdings to support operations. The company sold 3,778 Bitcoin in the first quarter and increased the amount of Bitcoin pledged as collateral for its credit facilities, as previously reported.